


better voltron season six

by starlesbian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Lance (Voltron) Has ADHD, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Allura (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), also i changed lil tiny things that pissed me off, also lotura didnt happen bc fuck that shit, bicon lance, black paladin lance for the win, but none of them know bc they dont talk abt their feelings enough, except kinda not its just me adding a lance arc, keith didnt age or whatever the fuck that was he just got taller bc its been a while, pining lance, ranger lance, season six fix it kinda, shiro isnt a clone he just has ptsd let the man rest, there is a decent amount of sursing ive been awake for 24 hrs, which changed the season so yeah its a fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 18:57:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14939981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlesbian/pseuds/starlesbian
Summary: Lance Álvarez is a master weaver of life, putting on different personas when need be. He is as fluid as a river, fitting into any situation he is needed in. The team needs a blue paladin who can shoot straight and lighten the mood when everything seems down? Check, he’s got that one in the bag. Shiro’s gone, Keith is freaking out, and the team needs a firm pillar of support? Lance was willing to step into the red lion, away from his baby girl, to be the paladin the team needed.aka the fic where lance actually gets an arc for season 6 and i removed a few irritating issues





	better voltron season six

When you think Lance Álvarez, what do you think? A lady’s man, suave, flirting expert? A badass sharpshooter who always has his team’s back? Maybe a homesick boy who just wants to be hugged by his mama? The reality of the situation is that he is all of those things at once and yet none.

You see, Lance Álvarez is a master weaver of life, putting on different personas when need be. He is as fluid as a river, fitting into any situation he is needed in. The team needs a blue paladin who can shoot straight and lighten the mood when everything seems down? Check, he’s got that one in the bag. Shiro’s gone, Keith is freaking out, and the team needs a firm pillar of support? Lance was willing to step into the red lion, away from his baby girl, to be the paladin the team needed.

Now he’s here, all alone, watching the team flourish, seemingly without him.

He can’t hide the bolt of hurt that races through his chest as everyone brushes him off. Allura is busy unlocking her heritage with scumbag Lotor, Pidge and Hunk are doing sciencey things at such a quick rate that Lance is completely lost whenever they get going (Lance isn’t a stupid person. He’s not. But English isn’t his first language and they babble at such a fast rate that his brain stops understanding, and quantum physics has never been his strong suit). Shiro and Coran are off doing dad things and Keith is just… gone.

He gets it, they all have a job, but he really, really misses his friends.

He misses movie nights and self care days. His heart yearns for (god he’s so glad no one can hear his internal monologue; yearns for? What is he, the protagonist in a shitty teenage romcom?) the sleepovers and the new dishes and the laughter.

Ever since Keith left and Lotor came, laughter seems to have been sucked out of the castle they call home. Maybe that’s Lance’s fault, but he really can’t keep cracking amazing jokes to an audience which cares more about boring stuff than actually taking care of themselves.

So Lance lets himself be quiet, watches the team, notices them not taking care of himself properly. His team is full of people who don’t know the definition of self care, unshockingly. Pidge and Hunk have bags that could rival anything Gucci has ever produced and Allura is not much better. She’s been so focused on her alchemy that her normally flawless hair seems to have lost its immaculate curl pattern, something Allura has complained to him about in the past but is not noticing in the present. Coran has been so busy flouncing around that he hasn’t slept, and Lance has found the Altean man fast asleep underneath his station more times than either has cared to admit. Keith is still gone (fuck, he misses that short bastard). But Shiro’s behavior has been the strangest of all.

Shiro has been snapping more than usual, cutting down any questions to his plans with a brutal efficiency that has quite possibly made Lance cry (what can he say? He’s a multifaceted person who has problems dealing with his former idol yelling at him; thanks ADHD). Sometimes when Lance is getting a late night bowl of that good ol’ food goo he hears yelling coming from Shiro’s room before hearing Shiro’s heavy footsteps roaming through the castle. 

And maybe Lance isn’t doing so hot either; he as at least five pimples (FIVE!!! He hasn’t had this many since before he’s discovered the secret to facial care in the seventh grade!!!) and his hair is starting to grow into a mullet (ew). His eyebrows haven’t been plucked in a billion years and yesterday he found a hair growing straight out of his ear. And he also has insomnia or whatever, big deal, his team is suffering right now and he can’t be worried too much about himself okay? He’s not selfish unlike some people with mullets.

So he pushes down his jokes and his yawns and his worries because dammit! He is the red paladin of Voltron! They have bigger things to worry about than a poor Cuban boy’s mental health! 

Lotor’s in front of all the paladins making yet another speech about peace or whatever which is completely boring and unnecessary. Lance has heard this same speech about ten different times and none of them have rubbed him right at all. Lotor still gives him the willies, but no one seems to want to hear it, not even Hunk. Hunk, who gossips like a maniac and trusts people like Lotor not even as far as he can throw him. 

Lance keeps his concern to himself, lets himself be walked through a Galran base with only a few snide comments at Lotor, and tries not to think about why the team is allowing itself to help an imperialist who wants to expand his empire. 

Lotor’s old nanny rubs him the wrong way with her stick that she uses to whack him and Hunk with, but nobody else seems to comment on it so he lets yet another thing drop. Hunk leaves with the weird nanny and the rest quickly scatter throughout the base.

It’s weird; a few months ago they were destroying bases like this one and now they’re walking around freely, helping the Galran soldiers with their duties. The entire situation makes Lance feel very uncomfortable, but he knows that if he brings it up the team will probably act like he’s delusional again. 

Lance sticks to Allura, wanting to make sure that Lotor doesn’t pull a move on her, whether romantically or violently, because Lotor is a slimy and tall half Galran who doesn’t seem to notice how Allura squirms uncomfortably whenever he looks at her with that hunger in his eyes.

Thankfully, under his dedicated watch, which he totally did not abandon to harrass some Galran generals, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Lotor had to take a rain check to do some more good old imperialist propaganda and team Voltron is sent yet again to do his dirty work.

*

After the mission they gather about in the common room, no Lotor in sight. He’s still off trying to corral straying Galrans, leaving team Voltron alone for the first time in forever. The silence of the room seems deafening for a moment, and Lance worries for a moment that he’s lost his mind for a moment.

“This feels weird,” Hunk says, breaking the oppressive silence. “I’m not the only person who thinks this is weird, right? We’re aiding an empire which we fought against for over a year.”

Allura looks like she’s about to object but ends up closing her mouth, humming gently to herself.

“I mean, we’ve all, excluding the Alteans of course, studied the history of empires on earth. They are definitively not good. No bueno. They oppress the people they rule. We can all agree on that right?” Hunk asks the otherwise quiet room.

Pidge fiddles with her not phone device, shrugging at Hunk’s question rather than answering it.

Lance looks around to see nobody else moving to answer the question, contemplation on the faces of all the paladins.

“Lotor says he’s trying to do the right thing. He says he’s trying to create a peaceful empire. Why would he lie to us about that?” Allura’s voice cracks, as if she disagrees with her own response. Knowing Allura, she’s probably comparing everything she’s ever known thus far to what’s going on now.

“I don’t trust him and I never have,” Lance spoke up, trying to keep his voice smooth when he really feels so worried at what he’s trying to imply. The team is actually discussing how shady this entire deal is, which is what Lance wanted, but he doesn’t know how far they’re willing to go. “I think we need a plan, at least a contingency.”

Simultaneously they all turn to Shiro. Even though Shiro has been acting weird lately, he’s still their leader, and if they make any plan, he deserves to be the one drawing it up.

Shiro groaned slightly, resting his head into his palms for a moment before looking up. “Alright team, I’m glad that I am not the only one who has seen how sketchy this entire ordeal is. We need to be careful with how we go along with this. We finally have a direct link into the inside of this entire operation, so we need to be careful. Espionage has not been our strong suit so far but that’s what we’re going to need to continue to do. Pidge and Hunk, I want you using your access to the Galra’s database to culminate any evidence against Lotor. Allura, I need you to keep Lotor close but not too close. And Lance,” Shiro sighed, and Lance felt his heart break just a little bit. “I need you to keep them all safe. Allura, Hunk, and Pidge are doing dangerous work and I need you to help them in any situation they might need you in. Their work means nothing if they get killed in the process, so it’s our job to protect them okay?”

The room returns to silence again as Lance frowns, trying to unpack all of what Shiro had just said. Did he just want to push Lance to the side? Did he not think that Lance could do any real work? He pushes back the tears that threaten to well in his eyes, and Shiro drops his gruff exterior to give Lance a concerned once over.

“Um, sure. I got it,” he finally manages to push out. Shiro nods, still looking concerned, before turning to Coran. 

“Coran and I will be your second line of defense for you guys. If anything goes wrong, you need to get to one of us asap. I believe in you guys, all of you, but we need to stay as safe as possible. Don’t do anything to alert Lotor, don’t change up the way you interact with him or any of the other Galra. Is that understood?”

The paladins all nod, and Shiro stands up to stretch.

“I’m going to go train, get some of this stress out of my system. Lance, do you want to come with?” Shrio says with an aura that tells Lance this is more of an order rather than a request. Lance hums out a yes before glancing at Hunk. They make faces at each other before Lance hurries to the door to stand by Shiro. 

After walking to the training deck in relatively awkward silence, they arrive, setting up with their preferred weapon. Lance transforms his bayard into its typical gun as Shiro sets up his Altean staff, which he often uses to train with.

Shiro seems to pout for a second before waving his hand. “No, Lance, you should practice with your broadsword.” he says.

Lance freezes up for a second, shocked at how Shiro could possibly know about his new bayard form. A thought flies into his head: Allura is a snitch. He recalls how Allura and Shiro were in the middle of a heated whisper discussion when he walked into the common room a week ago. They instantly quieted down when they saw him, but kept whispering after a minute. Lance had walked out that day feeling extremely uncomfortable, like he had walked in on something he wasn’t supposed to see, and didn’t bring it up again.

If Allura had told Shiro about his new bayard, what else had she told him?

Lance lets his slight mortification roll off of him in waves before following Shiro’s implied instructions, transforming his bayard with a practiced ease.

After Lance got settled, they began circling one another, letting staff and sword brush off one another whenever the other seemed off guard. They began to duel earnestly after a few minutes of this, and in no time, Shiro had forced Lance’s sword out of his hands.

Lance moves to pick up his fallen bayard when he hears a question that makes him go stock still.

“Lance, are you alright?” Shiro asks, no sign of exhaustion in his voice.

“Um, what?”

“Lance, I know that everything has changed,” the since Keith left is implied. “And I know that you have been looking out for the team. We would all work ourselves over a cliff if we could, but you haven’t let us. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you leaving food for Hunk and Pidge when they get too into work. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you have put Allura to bed on the nights where she works herself to exhaustion. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you let Coran tell you stories as he makes you do chores. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your work, because you’re a damn important part of this team and you’ve done so much for us.” 

Another batch of tears well up in his eyes, and he quickly tries to rub his tears away, but Shiro has already noticed.

“Lance, I am so sorry that I haven’t ever told you this before, but what you’ve done for this team is impressive and I’m proud of you. Sometimes I get a little wrapped up in my head and I forget to let you know, but your growth as a member of Voltron astounds me. You are exactly the kind of person I can entrust the protection of the team with. Thank yo-”

Lance cuts off Shiro’s speech with a sob before Shiro pulls him into a bear hug. Shiro has the body of a dorito and is made of mostly muscle, so it’s not as comfortable as a Hunk hug, but it’s pretty damn close, and Lance clings to him for a moment before pulling away. He hastily wipes his tears again before shining Shiro a smile. Shiro smiles back and for a moment Lance is back in Cuba being held by his mama after telling her he got into the Garrison. Lance brushes aside this comparison a heartbeat after he has it and picks up his bayard again challengingly. 

With a laugh, Shiro charges again and they spar.

*

When Keith first left for the Blade of Marmora, he kept radio silent. He didn’t look at them when he was with Kolivan discussing missions and he sure as hell didn’t visit. After a few months of this rude behavior, Lance marches up to Kolivan with his patented ‘don’t cross me’ look (which he may or may not have stolen from his mother) and a communicator and demands that he gives it to Keith or else.

No one knows why, or if Kolivan was actually threatened by the Cuban boy who was at least two feet shorter than him, but Keith used the communicator for the first time that same night. The paladins gathered in the common room and talked to Keith for hours and hours, exchanging fun little stories about things that happen on their bases. Once a week, on what Lance designated as “Space Thursday”, the paladins would gather around and talk to Keith unless they were on a mission. This routine created a connection between the paladins and Keith which was almost obliterated.

It wasn’t enough though.

Lance is sick of seeing Keith only when he and Kolivan are on a screen delivering mission reports and is sick of speaking to him only on Space Thursdays or whenever Keith had the free time to shoot hit a text. He doesn’t do much about this, only feels sick with some type of perverted homesickness for one Keith Kogane. 

So it’s a bit of a surprise when he receives a personal message from Keith right when he is settling into bed after a long, hot shower after such the kickass (literally; he’s going to have bruises for days) workout with Shiro. 

Can’t talk right now but something big happened. Found my mom, she has a rat tail which you would enjoy. Stay safe sharpshooter. -KK

Lance rereads the message blearily, his eyes not quite taking in what the message says. The moment his brain comprehends, he shoots straight up in his bed, rest long forgotten. He found his mom?

Lance debates over how to reply as he tries to imagine a tall, purple Keith with a rat tail for a hairstyle.

Good to know where you got your awful mullet from. Stay safe out there samurai. Come home soon, I wanna meet you ma asap :p -LA

Lance knows better than to wait up for a text; Keith Kogane is punctual in everything but text messages, plus depending on the distance, the time if takes to receive the message can be anywhere from instantaneous to multiple varga later. 

He knows these facts in his head, but he still stares into the orange screen of his faux phone, waiting.

Eventually his head falls and his phone slips out of his hand as he falls into a deep sleep, and if he has dreams of Keith Kogane and a picket fence and singing showtunes with mini versions of them running around in a big yard with a massive dog, everyone else is none the wiser.

*

Lance has an eensy teensy problem which may revolve two stubborn aliens who are beautiful and definitely a reassurance of his bisexuality. 

One of these aforementioned stubborn aliens might have moved out of their little family to quite possibly join a dangerous resistance group while the other might be sidling up to greasy Lotor to try and gain his trust.

This eensy teensy problem might be a big hulking crush on not one, but two of his teammates, because of course Lance is the type of person to have impossible crushes.

He thinks back to when he was a middle schooler, crying into his mother’s shoulder about how Benjaman Diaz has the prettiest eyes but pushed Lance and told all of his friends to make fun of him when he shared this tidbit with him. She wrapped her arms around him, tight and warm and safe, and shushed his tears away. 

“Mijo,” she started, “when you were created, you were given a heart so big that you hold more love than most people. You love so much and so deep and that is better than fine. Never become a person who is scared to love. God herself blessed you with love and a heart that could hold it all. I’m so proud of you for being so open to that love.” she said, gently smooching his forehead as his cries lessened. 

So Lance was born to be a lover, and love he did. The title bisexual fit him perfectly and he knew that this was just fine, that his mama accepts him no matter what.

But it’s still a bit of a shocker to be in this deep for two different people. Lance tries not to get too clingy, he really does, but he almost sees red when Lotor almost kisses Allura, who looked like she was going green slightly while trying to plaster on a semi convincing smile. 

Allura smiles down to him gratefully as they exchange a moment of banter before turning back to the ship she and Lotor were working on. He heads out with Pidge and Hunk into their work area where Pidge was working on three projects with Hunk while simultaneously hacking the Galran mainframe. Hunk gives Lance a sympathetic pat on the back and he pouts in a chair.

“Does Lotor give you guys the creeps?” he pleads to the working engineers. 

Pidge doesn’t even lift her head to snap out “That’s kinda the reason I’m hacking his system right now bud.”

Lance’s pout deepens. “I mean, Allura was giving off ‘please leave me alone vibes’ and he was touching her and being weird and gross and stuff!!! He’s a major creep.”

Hunk sighs slightly. “It’s not that I don’t agree, it’s just that I’m trying to focus on this right now and you are getting a bit emotional. Could we go over this later at the castle when we’ve calmed down?”

Lance knows that Hunk is trying to be the logical one in the situation but it still stings slightly, and Lance turns away from the engineers so they can only see his back. He fiddles with his phone for a moment before spotting something that wasn’t there a varga ago.

Another message from Keith, score! Lance is starting to lose his mind in the Galra headquarters or where ever they’re stationed right now, and readily needs the distraction.

Lol. Krolia and I are approaching our destination and when we reach there I’m not going to be able to send messages, but feel free to send me whatever you want. -KK

Attached to the message is a creep shot of Krolia, who Lance assumes is the mother Keith was talking about. She indeed looks like a tall, purple version of Keith, but somehow her hair is worse.

That hair is atrocious. Please cut that off her head in her sleep. Do it for the good of the universe Keith, or just for me. Please Keith you need to cut that rat tail off. Lmao -LA

He smiles down at his phone and decides to reread old messages. Little selfies and pictures of other Blades and beautiful planets fill his vision again and he must be smiling fondly because when he looks up he sees Allura standing in front of him slightly uncomfortably.

She gives him a soft smile and it reminds him of the one she gave him after he saved her from the bolt of electricity and...

Oh god he’s so screwed.

*

The next day, he walks in on Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, and Coran playing Monsters and Mana. It seems fun and Allura wants to play so he settles down and started to brainstorm possible characters. He decides to be a ranger named Pike, because he’s a nerd who likes naming himself after weapons. The game lasts for a long while and when it ends, he’s satisfied that he spent his time playing a nerdish game with his nerd friends and had the best time he’s had in a while. 

It all seems to disintegrate when Pidge and Hunk make their exit, quickly followed by Allura, leaving Lance with Shiro and Coran.

Lance takes the privacy to gently tease Shiro about choosing to be a paladin with a twin brother who is also a paladin named Shiro before heading to his room for the night.

* 

Lance has been having nightmares more and more frequently much to his distaste. The latest ones feature the omega shield and all of the things that could have gone wrong. 

In one he dies before Allura can save him, in another he’s not quick enough to save her. Others feature the shield not coming up and him having to watch the planet disintegrate into nothingness.

The best solution to nightmares is to walk it off, his mama always told him, so that’s what he does. He grabs a glass of water from the kitchen before heading out. He typically goes to the observation deck to stargaze. Back on Earth, stargazing calmed him right down, tethered him to Cuban beaches as he stared into the cosmos.

In space it’s a bit different. The only home he has is a castle which doubles for a kickass rocket ship which has awful shields. The stars make him feel even more lonely, but watching them beats being caught and chewed out by Coran or Shiro.

His feat don’t lead him to the observation deck this time. Instead, he walks to the control room which houses a singular elevator. He lets himself be carried down before stepping out in front of the black lion. The black lion is regal even when she’s grounded, her imposing stature a perfect place for Lance to hide away from the world for a few varga.

He sits criss cross before her, sipping his water pouch as he gazed up at her. She didn’t speak or move a muscle, but he felt a shift in energy to let him know she was aware of his presence. 

“Hey Black, how are you doing on this fine evening?” he asked even though he doesn’t expect an answer. He almost misses the glint of light in her eyes at his words and continues on.

“I gotta admit, I’m a little scared. Keith is in some far off location and our current mission is dangerous and Shiro seems so damn tired,” he says in one breath, punctuating only with a sip of his water. “He keeps talking like he’s too damn old to do anything but he’s so young, a decade older than us at the most.”

Black seems to rumble in agreement, and Lance nods.

“I know right? He’s been through so much, and he still fights. One of the strongest people I’ve ever met, and my abuela once fought off a hoard of dogs with one sandal.” 

The rumble seems amused now, which is not something Lance was expecting from the head of Voltron. He decided to keep telling her stories of his family and the weird situations they’d gotten into in the past, because “it’s weird Black, but Álvarez’s attract danger like a magnet.”

After one particularly heartfelt story, Lance stands up, brushing him hands on his pajama pants.

“Thanks for letting me talk to you Black. I’ll keep an eye on Shiro for you, make sure he takes care of himself like he takes care of the team.” she responds with a warm rumble, making Lance chuckle. 

He wanders back to his room and catches a couple of varga of sleep before they get called in by Lotor to test the ship he and Allura had built. Lance recalls the promise he made to the black lion last night and watched as Shiro half heartedly shovels some food into his mouth. 

He doesn’t want to break a promise he makes to Black, and so he pushes his favorite flavor of Altean juice pack to Shiro and only smiles at the questioning eyebrow raise he receives. 

Shiro drinks away and looks a tad bit happier than normal, and Lance feels confident that he will not have to add the black lion to the list of beings who are Displeased with him.

*

Allura and slimy imperialist (Lance has started a policy only he knows about where he doesn’t refer to Him with his actual name and it’s been fun so far) board the ship they built together and head for the quintessence field. Lance can’t help to be nervous-- anything could happen out there and Voltron wouldn’t be able to stop him. 

He only lets this anxiety out while wishing Allura good luck all while glaring at Prince L’Oreal. They enter through the gate without any problems, and Lance’s breath clears up slightly. A few minutes pass by without anything abnormal happening until the castle starts detecting an incoming craft. 

When the screen of the craft if pulled up, and it seems to be an old Altean pod. When Shiro demands the pilot to identify their self, a video image of Keith is thrown up as well. Shiro and Keith talk for a moment, but Lance tunes everything out. 

Lance hasn’t seen Keith Kogane’s actual face in way too long, and he can’t help but gape slightly. Keith spares a glance to Lance, and gives him a slight smile. 

That good ol’ love filled heart his mama told him about? It stuttered for a moment and then started beating really fast. Lance can’t help but feel like that one cartoon character in the short animation where his heart runs out of his chest towards the cute boy. In this instance the cute boy is Keith. What. The. Actual. Fuck.

“Hey, does he seem bigger to you?” he asks into Pidge’s ear. His friend only gives him a judging look for a second before focusing her attention back on Keith.

Lance is snapped out of his slight daze when Keith gruffly asks about Lotor. When Hunk lets him know that he’s in the quintessence field and Lance mentions Allura is with him, Keith growls in frustration and if this wasn’t a serious situation Lance would have melted to a puddle. 

They rush into the docking bay where Keith dramatically exited the pod and stood there for a moment staring back at the team.

“Keith, it’s so good to see you,” Shiro smiles. 

Lance steps up to Keith and looks him dead in the eyes. “How do we know you’re the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?” Lance questions, letting mirth show in his eyes as he takes in Keith.

Keith laughs for a moment before composing himself. “I’m sorry but I really don’t have time for this; we need to talk about Lotor.” he says, walking towards the rest of the group.

Lance turns to face him as Keith starts in on how Prince Loiter has been lying to them, confirming the paladins’ earlier suspicions. 

When Shiro asks what Loser has been lying about, a blonde girl steps in. Her green marks shock team Voltron, eliciting a gasp and a stuttered “You’re Altean,” from Coran. Next to the girl is Krolia and a giant alien dog, wolf, thing (?). 

Keith sure knows how to collect some interesting people, doesn’t he?

They all talk together about how faux Legalos is with Allura so no, they will not be blasting the ship out of the sky immediately, thank you very much. Lance glares at Keith for even suggesting such a thing, but Keith seems to be paying closer attention to the conversation at hand rather than Lance’s defense of the princess.

When they make their way into the control room, Krolia officially introduces herself to the paladins. When she reaches Lance, her head tilts to the side slightly and she pouts as if in thought. She then nods a couple of times before moving over to greet the others. Lance flushes at the attention before turning his head to Keith, who shrugs at his mom’s behavior. 

After Krolia finishes her introductions, Keith introduces Romelle, the blonde Altean, who begins to set into her own story immediately. Lance feels sick as he hears the things that monster has done to the Altean people who implicitly trusted him. By the time she tells them about how they arrived at the castle ship, the paladins are all in various stages of shock. Coran has tears in his eyes as he makes a comment about how horrifying her story is.

“We’ve been building up evidence about what he’s done but nothing of their proportion is on file. I can’t believe he’s done this,” Pidge says, her voice smaller than normal as she thinks over the data she’s acquired. 

“He’s a monster,” Keith says, just as the ship jumps back on the castle’s map. 

They start to make a real plan after Lance brings up the fact that they need one if they’re going to face him. Shiro starts them off but uses a few of Lance’s suggestions to create the finished plan. Keith looks at him with a weird look before turning away.

Each of them needed to hurry to their planned positions, with Lance going down to greet them. Lance brings up the fact that Lotion is dangerous and that it’s his job to protect the team before Shiro could reject, leaving Shiro with a proud look as he tells Lance to hurry. 

When space Malfoy and Allura arrive, Lance steps up to the ship to help Allura out, letting her lean on him. Lowtorso seems annoyed at Lance’s presence, which means he was probably planning something to help further his plans. Lance taps Allura’s shoulder a few time to let her know that something was going to happen the best way he could. However, Allura is slumped in a way that tells Lance that she is exhausted and probably did not interpret his message.

Fuck, everything has to be hard, doesn’t it?

 

Lance lets Allura continue to slump on him, and she smiles widely up at him with the same weird look as Keith had earlier. Lance pushes through his curiosity, leading Allura to the control room where the others were waiting.

Once they had crossed through the entrance, Logarithmic is pushed into the middle of an ambush. Lance tries to move Allura to a safer spot but she instead jumps up and crosses the space to get in between him and L’Oreal (okay, this has gotta stop, his ADHD brain is not thinking of anymore creative names plus this is a serious situation). She stands with her back to Lotor as she looks at Lance in the eyes. 

“Lance I think there’s been a mistake. Why is this happening? Lotor truly does want peace for the universe; he told me he does. He wants to fulfill our fathers’ wish for peace. Tell me what’s happening, I’m sure we could work something out.” she seems to be begging Lance. Lance frowns, not knowing what to say, but thankfully he didn’t have to. 

Romelle jumps in, reiterating her story to Allura. Allura’s eyes are wide as she gazes at another Altean, a sight she never thought she would see ever again. At the end of Romelle’s explanation, Allura looks so righteously angry that Lance almost feels bad for Lotor. Probably would if he hadn’t tried to manipulate them or you know, murdered thousands of Alteans for his own selfish deeds.

His thoughts are interrupted when the alarms start sounding about a breach of the landing deck; when he turns to look at the screen, he has the absolute pleasure (haha not) to see two of Lotor’s generals stealing the ships and the large one, Zethrid, running up to the control deck. 

Zethrid is one of the largest aliens Lance has ever met and she’s partial to slamming her fist into things so he is not at all excited to see her rushing up, but when she arrives for Lotor, it is a simple numbers game. They drop her and reinforce both her cuffs and Lotor’s. The other two general begin to fly away, out of the ship without even trying to go back for their fellow soldier.

He turns to Shiro, who took the most damage in the fight against Zethrid. His metal arm is slumping in a way that could not be comfortable and his ribs were definitely at least bruised.

“You know you can form Voltron without me kid,” he says, in the voice he uses when he pretends like he’s ancient and that Lance is his padawan. 

“But I’m just a boy from Cuba Shiro,” Lance whimpers.

“Damn right you’re a boy from Cuba, I don’t know about the just though. If we go by that logic, I’m just a man from Japan,” Shiro affirms.

Lance swivels on his heel to look at Hunk, Pidge, and Allura, telling them to get to their lions as fast as possible. He then turns to Keith, who has a surprised yet resolved look on his face.

“I’ll be wherever you need me to be Lance,” he says and smiles at Lance. A surge of confidence rises in Lance, and when he hears a roar coming from the black lion’s hanger, he knows what has to happen. 

“You know, Red’s missed you a whole lot. Why don’t you take her this time, okay buddy?” he asks, and Keith’s already halfway to her hanger in the blink of an eye. Before Lance could reach Black’s elevator, he turns to Shiro.

“Thank you so much for this opportunity, I won’t let you down,” determinations floods his voice.

Shiro smiles and nods at Lance. “I know you won’t. Thanks for letting me have a break,” he retorts back, smirking. 

The black lion accepts Lance immediately, and he thrusts out into space as soon as he sits down properly. The comet ships Lotor had built were extremely agile and had powerful weapons, meaning that they were difficult targets even for the lions.

So Lance does what some would say he was born to do.

“Form Voltron!”

*

At the end of the day, the castleship is in ruins, but the paladins are cheering and whooping.

“Buddy, you are obviously my favorite black paladin,” Hunk starts, making Keith and Shiro laugh, partially in shock that Hunk would say that in front of them, “so could we I don’t know, have a vacation? A break time? After we get Lotor and Zethrid here into an space court or whatever so these two can get properly convicted?”

“Well, Hunk, sunshine, light of my life, my sun and st-” Lance starts, only to get interrupted by Pidge.

“That’s awfully convenient that you ask that Hunk, seeing as my father is the only person in the universe that has the plans to the Castle of Lions,” she says, smirking slightly as she adjusted her glasses.

Hunk gasped slightly, opening his mouth as if to ask that question, the one he’s been dying to know the answer to for the two years they’ve been in space.

Lance let a smile consume him face. “Yeah bud, we’re going home.”

**Author's Note:**

> okay so the changes are  
> 1) lance got an arc  
> 2) lance is confirmed bi  
> 3) keith texts lance sometimes  
> 4) shiro isnt a clone he just needs sleep  
> 5) the team doesnt trust lotor at all  
> 6) black paladin lance baybayyyyyy  
> 7) the weird time thing... it didnt happen it makes no sense to the plot and was not necessary!!!!  
> 8) lance actually admits he likes keith and allura at the same time and they like him too theyre all just dumb teenagers who dont know how to communicate properly  
> 9) hunk may seem rude but hes actually working and focused so dont try and bash him (aka i project on hunk haha)  
> 10) i have adhd so lance does as well his narrative is kinda all over the place but they dont exactly have a cvs in space check and mate
> 
> anyway im a dumb lesbian who has been awake for more than 25 hours and has been writing this since 8 am to 1 pm so if yall see any grammar things just let me know lmao


End file.
